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Reece MacDonald scored three tries as the defending champion New England Free Jacks scored a dominant 46-13 win the competitive debut for Anthem Carolina. The Major League Rugby newcomers earned the applause of the home crowd with two highlight-reel tries late in the second half.
It took less than three minutes for the first try to come with Cam Davidowicz crossing in the middle of a lineout drive. Jayson Potroz converted to make it a full seven. A scrum penalty put the Free Jacks back in Anthem’s end but Braemar Murray stole the ensuing throw-in and the home side cleared their lines.
Junior Gafa’s line break put Anthem on the front foot and Free Jacks skipper Josh Larsen was singled out for a dangerous tackle, with the referee brandishing a yellow card. Oscar Koller knocked over the routine penalty goal moments later for the first points in Anthem franchise history.
The numerical disadvantage didn’t seem to bother New England’s forwards. As Larsen watched from the sin bin the pack went straight back to work with Andrew Quattrin falling over the line on the back of a driving maul. Just before Larsen returned a loose pass from Koller went straight into the hands of MacDonald who raced home from inside his own half for a five-pointer.
There was time for two more tries before the halftime break. Ben LeSage hit a hard line that split the midfield and he slid in under the posts for an automatic seven. Wian Conradie then touched down in the corner on a pushover try to make the score 29-3 with 40 minutes in the book.
Early in the second half MacDonald got his double on the end of an overlap. LeSage grabbed his second after Danyon Morgan-Puterangi sliced clean through on a set move. MacDonald then regathered a Potroz chip kick and completed his hat trick on a scorching solo run from halfway.
It was job done for the Free Jacks, but the final quarter belonged to Anthem. Cael Hodgson tapped back a Shane Barry cross-kick and Mateo Gadsden’s arms were just long enough to reach the corner for Carolina’s first try. The second came on a long kick ahead from Barry that eluded Morgan-Puterangi and bounced into the waiting arms of Tyren Al-Jiboori.
Both teams return to action on Saturday. New England celebrate their home opener against Old Glory DC, while Anthem play their first road game in New Orleans against the Gold.
| SCORING |
CAROLINA 13
Tries (2) – M. Gadsden (66′), T. Al-Jiboori (78′)
Cons (0) – S. Barry 0/2
Pens (1) – O. Koller 1/1 (15′)
NEW ENGLAND 46
Tries (8) – C. Davidowicz (3′), A. Quattrin (19′), R. MacDonald 3 (25′, 46′, 57′), B. LeSage 2 (32′, 52′), W. Conradie (39′)
Cons (3) – J. Potroz 2/7 (4′, 53′), No kick (32′)
YC (1) – J. Larsen (15′)
| LINEUPS |
ANTHEM CAROLINA
1 Jake Turnbull (capt.) (17 Dan Hanson 67′), 2 Jack Manzo (16 Connor Robinson 55′), 3 Mika Felix (18 Ivan Pula 53′), 4 James Rivers, 5 Lucas Gramlick (19 Logan Weidner 42′), 6 Braemar Murray, 7 Albert O’Shannessey, 8 Dylan Fortune (20 Joe Basser 47′), 9 Chase Suznevich, 10 Oscar Koller (21 Siaosi Nai 62′), 11 Ulu Niutupuivaha (22 Mateo Gadsden 58′), 12 Junior Gafa (23 Josh Shetler 72′), 13 Cael Hodgson, 14 Tyren Al-Jiboori, 15 Shane Barry
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Foster DeWitt (17 Kyle Ciquera 50′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Sean Ralph 50′), 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (18 Kaleb Geiger 50′), 4 Josh Larsen (capt.), 5 Conor Keys (19 Kyle Baillie 50′), 6 Martín Sigren, 7 Cam Davidowicz, 8 Wian Conradie (20 Piers von Dadelszen 58′), 9 John Poland (21 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti 50′), 10 Jayson Potroz (23 Isaac Olson 58′), 11 Danyon Morgan-Puterangi, 12 Wayne van der Bank, 13 Ben LeSage (22 Gabe Casey 58′), 14 Zach Bastres, 15 Reece MacDonald*
*15 Reece MacDonald left the field at 77 mins and could not be replaced
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Sunday, March 3
Venue: American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: clear, 64°F (18°C), wind W 4-6mph (6-9km/h)
Attendance: 2,307
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Marquise Goodwin (USA)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (USA) & Mike Lawrenson (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
